Flashback Demanding Labour (Krisa)

[Azira]

   

It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had been so sure, so confident that she could catch something to bring back. She thought that it would have been easy, it should have been easy but it hadn't worked out the way she thought that it should. The huntress wasn't happy about that at all. How was she supposed to prove to Si'ira that she could go it alone when she couldn't seem to manage on her own? True, she couldn't have predicted that the rabbit would move. Without that bit of bad luck, she'd be bringing the creature home now. Ideally she wanted to bring back more than one though.

The girl had to stop herself stomping through the forest, had to try to quash her impatience and annoyance at not having caught anything yet. There was another place that she was headed, not too densely packed with trees and hopefully she would find something there. One rabbit might do her, you could get a nice stew out of the creature but if she had a chance at two or more, she'd take it. One rabbit on a night hunt was all right but two? If she caught two then she was certain that Si'ira would release her from her apprenticeship immediately. It was an exciting thought.

Her excitement was interrupted by a question from the Dek. She turned to look at the girl with wide eyes. She knew that the drudge could speak of course but she hadn't been expecting her to speak. In fact the young woman shouldn't have uttered a sound. She looked at her for the first time, really looked. Although the lighting was poor, she could see that the girl's expression was pained. The Dek was limping, favouring her left foot which suggested she'd hurt her right. The huntress could only assume that she had been injured when she fell into the rabbit hole. The girl hadn't bothered to say anything, something which Azira found irritating.

"Please tell me that you haven't hurt yourself? For petch sake! Why didn't you just say something? Do you have any idea how much of an inconvenience you are?" she hissed at the girl, her annoyance making her mouth twist in hideous ways. How had she found such a miserable Dek out of all the ones in the kitchens?

x

[Krisa]

Krisa back away a bit as the Avora’s eyes widened. . Her face was screwed up with anger and frustration. Krisa didn’t understand the need to be so horribly angry all the time. But she was feeling odd today. Like she couldn’t care less about what she said or did. Like she wanted to act on impulse. For some reason, that troublesome feeling grew stronger. And then she said something in retort that she would regret instantly “…Well if you had made the first shot…” She muttered, words coated with bitterness. Her eyes widened in horror, and she covered her mouth. Was she suicidal? Did she want to die out here? Was that it? Was she just stupid.

Krisa shook her head slightly, as laughter erupted from within. Fear, cold as ice down her spine, made her hand quiver. She still hadn’t said anything else. She found herself unable to. Even though she was slightly older than the huntress, she felt like a child next to her confidence, and her sour mood. Krisa couldn’t do anything to back herself out of the ditch. “…I didn’t… didn’t mean it… I… I’m s-sorry…” She spluttered backing up further “…I-I’m j-just exhausted… I don’t k-know what I’m saying.”

What else could she do? “I’ll put up with it. I’ll go as far as you need me to… p-please.” The Dek offered her continued suffering as compensation. Back taking a higher caste usually mean pain, depending on their character and their tolerance. Krisa was such a scrambled mess that, most of the time, she was only half there. Her moods fluctuated randomly, and without warning, causing her to do things out of character. Oh why hadn’t she just spoke up right away? What honor was there for her to protect?

[Azira]

The insolence from the drudge was not only unexpected but downright shocking. Dek did not talk back to a higher caste member like that, it was disrespectful. Inarta society was nothing if not based on respecting the higher castes so for the girl to act so was pure insubordination. Many of her peers would have struck the girl personally or sent her off to be flogged. The latter wasn't an option for her and she wasn't quite angry enough for the former just yet but she was heading there. Not only had the girl shown cheek but she'd also insulted the skills of the huntress, something that Azira would not stand for under any circumstances.

"You stupid, petching drudge!" the girl snarled, closing the distance between them as she stalked towards her. The drudge was stammering apologies but it was too late for her, the Avora would not let it go so easily. A finger jabbed into the chest of the scrawny drudge, her words driven home with each hard prod from the digit.

"Would you like to show how good you are with a bow? Would you like to go off and kill a brace of rabbits and bring them back to me? Apparently you're in a position to judge now. You! The shyke of Mizahar! You, who have to bow and scrape and grovel to us! Why don't you get on your knees and beg? It's all you drudges are good for, sniveling pathetic little shykes! Maybe I should just leave you here, see how long it takes you to get back to the city by yourself. Chances are you wouldn't even make it back without me. You'd probably just land in some hole again. Or maybe I'll be kind and bring you back to Wind Reach, deliver you straight to the bed of some Avora or Endal. Would you prefer that?"

The rage of the huntress came out in an unstoppable current, her nasty thoughts perfectly articulated so the Dek would understand and learn her place. She would show her that she would not take such insolence lightly. Her finger was probably leaving bruises on the girl's chest but Azira didn't care, she didn't think that her point was coming across strongly enough in face.

Pulling her knife from her hip, she grabbed the girl's hair and twisted, shoving the blade in front of her face, inches from her nose. "One more word like that out of you and I swear I will cut you and leave you to bleed. It doesn't have to be a fatal wound, no just enough for something to catch your scent and come and finish you off," she hissed, spittle flecking the drudge's face. She thrust the girl away from her, releasing her as she did so. Sheathing the knife, she turned and resumed her former course, knowing full well that the drudge would follow her now without question. She had no other choice, she had to or otherwise she was going to die.

x

[Krisa]

Horrible threats, a jabbing finger painfully prodding her chest, a barrage of insults. Krisa couldn't say or do anything to make it stop. It made her wonder what it would be like to have this sort of power, the ultimate power of life or death, over another human being. The girl had a knife in her face now. Krisa stared at it, her whole body trembled and she closed her eyes, fully expecting to be killed on the spot. Her throat slit cleanly across it’s length. She imagined it all, but instead she was shoved to the floor after being threatened a slow and painful death.

The ground stole the air from her lungs, and jarred her painful ankle horribly. She cried out with the agony of it. And then she kept crying. Her eyes filled with salty tears which spilled over and dripped from her nose and onto her top lip. She sobbed without making a noise, and painfully made herself get back up.

It would have been easier just to stay there on the ground and give up on such a pitiful existence as hers. What was the point when no one else gave a shyke about her? She could just surrender and end the toment that was her every waking hour on this planet. But instead, she stopped her crying, and made herself walk forward. It hurt beyond belief. Every step made her want to curl into a ball and give up on her life. Insanity crawled into her eyes like a disease. And she started giggling. She stifled the laughter again with her hands. She didn’t quite know what was wrong with her. How could anything about this situation possibly cause her to laugh?

It was just all so ridiculous! If she was nothing, then who cares what she had said! That the girl would get so upset about something someone who was irrelevant had said was so utterly pointless. Was her honor that valuable, really? And what did it matter if it was questioned by a mere Dek?

Krisa knew she had no life worth living. That she barely even deserved the life she had. But, for a moment, as she stumbled forward, she asked herself what she would feel like if the roles were reversed. If she was the one with the power to sentence someone to die slowly and painfully. To sentence another human being to suffer and then perish. To ever wish that upon someone would deprive her of any self respect she may have.

She giggled again, biting her furiously into her sleeve in a desperate effort to stop the sound from reaching the Avora’s ears. What was she talking about? After all, that's exactly what the custom of her city was: to sentence the weak to suffer and then perish. Krisa had only survived this long because of her overwhelming fear if death, her will to survive, and the occasional mood swing that worked in her favor.

" I wonder... Could she have lived with it? Could she have left another human to bleed out and die in the wilderness, and still have gotten to sleep that night? How empty was her threat?" She was talking to herself now, but her voice was barely audible, even to her own ears. Cruelty. She should be used to it by now. She supposed it was possible. Being constantly close to death had given Krisa a respect for life. To really have to fight every single day of her life had made her too downright stubborn to give it up.

Other times she wasn’t so optimistic. Other times she found herself looking for something sharp and tearing into her very skin in an effort to feel anything other than the despondency of her being. But that was for another time. Krisa was determined to keep up. So much so that the pain of her foot was momentarily dulled, just by sheer force of will. ‘I’m not in pain… I’m not hungry… I’m not in pain… nothing hurts… I’ll be fine.’

[Azira]

Cries of pain reached her ears as she continued forwards but she didn't look back. The stupid Dek would follow her now regardless of what she might be thinking. Imagine a drudge being so cheeky! It was unbelievable! Azira had never had a problem with the downtrodden of her society before, they just worked and that was that but she'd never come across a spirited one. Spirit was something that was banged out of them from as early as possible if it presented for the simple reason that the upper castes wouldn't stand for it. She'd almost been kind to the girl. Words were one thing but physical force was quite another. She'd only shoved the girl after all, not actually beaten her.

After a few moments, she heard the shuffling steps of the drudge and knew that she had complied with her wishes. Good then she wouldn't have to carry out a thread that was only empty. She could not cut someone and leave them bleeding to attract an animal in the woods but she could make the threat, a fairly believable one at that.

The huntress had naturally slowed her steps as she had listened for the sound of the Dek following her. Now, she began to move a bit faster, still keeping her steps light as she searched for some place where rabbits had been. Beneath her feet she could feel many things, twigs, leaves, stones but she was searching for something small like a stone but which had more give in it. When her foot came down on a group of small round things that crunched slightly under foot, the huntress crouched to examine them. Feeling on the ground, she found the small pellets and picked up one, rolling it in her fingers and raising it to her nose to sniff it. Yeah, rabbit droppings.

Dropping the pellet, she stood and wiped her hand vigorously on her bryda. The droppings were perhaps two or three bells old which meant that there had been rabbits through here fairly recently. Perhaps they had a burrow somewhere nearby and might emerge again. She'd never get them out of the burrow herself, at least not out where she needed them to be. She could smoke them out if she found a burrow entrance but rabbits always built an escape route in their tunnels and if she didn't find that as well then she was out of luck. Better to have her how ready in case she came across something.

Backtracking she found the Dek, limping forwards fairly slowly. She couldn't be sure but the limp seemed more pronounced than before as if she had hurt herself further. Perhaps it had been Azira's fault for shoving her down or maybe she was imagining what she was seeing altogether. Shaking her head as if to clear it, the huntress stepped into the path of the girl and gestured for her belongings.

"I may be close to some rabbits," she explained quickly and quietly as she held her hands out expectantly for her gear.

x

[Krisa]

The only thing to do now was keep herself from falling over, and to follow orders. Krisa knew that if she fell, she would lose the will to get back up, and she would die. She just hoped the avora caught herself a rabbit so that they could go home. Probably to cry some more and cut gashes into her legs until she finally passed out for the night. This ankle was going to be trouble for her for who knows how many days after this incident. Inside she still heard laughter, and taunting. ‘Why don’t you just kill yourself? It will hurt less’ The voices said. Today wasn’t even one of her worst. She’d been flogged, and beaten several times in her short life. The only tragedy that hadn’t befallen her was to be taken to bed. She was still completely untouched in that way. Maybe her ugly freckles, and her uneven short hair were protecting her from that.

Panic arose at she thought she’d lost the huntress. Being much more able, she had dashed out ahead, and Krisa could no longer see her. Even with her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could barely see anything. Her green eyes widened with fear as she looked around. Her whole frame shivered. “She’s left you” The voices chorused.

No. Don’t be stupid

This was crazy! The Dek still had her gear, of course she hadn’t left her. Krisa closed her eyes for a moment to catch hold of herself as the pain radiated through her. Then the avora reappeared, words on her tongue. Krisa just handed fourth her request without so much as a sniffle. She didn’t dare to say anything else. Next time she was asked to do anything by an Avora, Krisa thought she should pretend that she was completely dumb. That way her big mouth couldn’t get her killed. The last of her odd mood swing seemed to be disappearing into the night now. All she felt was pain, and then nothing. Her voices was completely silent, still; ‘twas as if they were resting.

Krisa lifted her injured ankle into the air and leant, more like slumped, against the sturdy bark of the tree. As much as she hated the voices, Krisa wasn’t sure if she’d be comfortable without them. Afterall… without them, she’d be utterly alone…

But they came back… always would they come back.

[Azira]

When the huntress approached the Dek, the girl said nothing, just handed over her gear soundlessly. She'd obviously been sufficiently cowed by the actions of the Avora and so Azira almost felt sorry for her. Almost. The girl was still worthy of her contempt and so she wasn't going to allow pity to taint her better judgement and common sense.

Slinging the quiver over her shoulder, she secured it in place and rolled her shoulders. The rest that she'd had by having the drudge carrying her stuff for her, had paid off somewhat. There was still some pain and tension in her muscles but it wasn't as bad as if she'd been carrying it herself the whole time. The backpack was the really weighty item though and she didn't have to carry that so that didn't matter to her. Her gaze shifted to the form of the drudge for just a few moments, taking in the wariness of the teen. She was obviously in pain and again, pity and guilt tried to worm their ways into her brain. She quashed such emotions for the moment, instead turning away to return the way from which she'd just come.

As she crept back through the trees, her stomach growled at her to remind her that she still hadn't eaten and she rested a hand on it as if to quiet it. The girl decided that she'd eat in a few chimes as soon as she'd had a chance at catching a rabbit then she could eat her dinner. More determined than before, she scanned the shadows extra hard to try to discern some movement or shape in the darkness. Her eyes alighted on a small shape. It was only a baby, probably having hopped up from the burrow to have a little look around. Its mother wouldn't be far but she had an easy shot at the kit. There wouldn't be that much meat on it but some meat would be better than none.

Nocking an arrow, she held it in place before raising her bow and drawing back. The arrow head was pointed at the little silhouette and, with a quickly exhaled breath, released. The projectile slammed into the rabbit with a wet sounding thunk and when she went to retrieve her kill, she found that it had been driven perpendicularly through the neck and into the head. It hadn't gone too far, having struck bone, but it had certainly done its job. Picking up the now limp form, she pulled and twisted the arrow out, the arrow head pulling off the shaft in the exit.

"Shyke!" she muttered. The processing centre could deal with it now because she certainly wasn't going to try to do it. She'd end up ruining it, she just knew it and that wouldn't be very impressive now, would it?

Carrying the swinging form back to where the Dek was standing, she lifted it up triumphantly before reaching back to secure it to her quiver by the pieces of cord that she kept there for such purposes. Now she would get to have her well earned reward; she could eat! She was in such a good mood that she was even willing to share food with the Dek! Walking around to stand behind the drudge, she reached into her backpack and retrieved her food parcel. The cloth it was wrapped in was a bit greasy from the meat but she didn't care. Moving a little away from the other girl, she sat down carefully. Tearing a hunk off the bread and a few meagre chunks off the meat, she placed them together and held them out in offering to the drudge.

"You want it?" Azira asked, the expression on her face an honest one with no signs of deceit.

x

[Krisa]

Krisa watched the huntress shoot again, and this time her efforts were not in vain. The arrow killed the rabbit instantly. The avora reclaimed her arrow and slung the carcass over her quiver, and tied it there before holding it up triumphantly. She looked in good spirits, much of that brutal anger had been washed away in the rabbits blood. Krisa was just happy they could now turn around and go home. Well… it wasn’t much of a home for the Dek. The poor girl would leave it at any chance she got. Wind Reach was her slaver, not her home. And one day living here would kill her. The Dek did not live… they survived. Still, this would mark another day survived. The teen slid down the trunk of the tree she was using to support her frail body. A moan escaped from her lips as the pressure was relieved off her foot. The woman had sat down to eat her dinner; Krisa could smell it. And she didn’t want to smell it. He mouth actually watered at the scent. She had fantasies of large feasts, and all you could eat buffets, and her empty stomach complained loudly.

The Dek had closed her eyes, but opened them with a start as she heard footsteps behind her, and words that must be from inside her imagination. Krisa stared at the huntress as she towered above her, offering her food. Voices immediately woke from their slumber to warn her of treasury but there was no sense of deceit in her expression that the teen could see. If this was a cruel lie, the huntress was a good actor. Was she going to smack the food out of her hand after she took it? Or would she simply retract her hand before Krisa closed hers around it. Still… she couldn’t sit there gawking forever. So she reached out a shaky hand and took what was offered. She waited for the lie, but it never came.

As quickly as she could she stuffed the food into her mouth, barely chewing it. Her teeth tore into the meat hungrily as if this was the last meal she would ever receive. And when it was all gone, she was near to tears. How wrongly she’d assumed the worst of the huntress. She had to thank her. She turned to where the teen was and forced her words past the forming lump in her throat “T-Thank-you…!” She cried, not because she was sad, but because it renewed just a little bit of her hope in the kindness of the world when she was treated like a human being. Krisa put her hands to her cheeks and swatted at the tears that had escaped, “…I wont forget it…thank-you for sharing your food.” She repeated, without the stutter.

At least there was one less issue to be dealt with. She wasn’t sure she could go another night with hunger pains stabbing at her guts, and now she wouldn’t have to. Compassion, pity, just the kindness to care about a Dek was rare. Most would have ate in front of her. Even made her watch. It wasn’t enough for some, that she lived this life. Some liked to watch her suffering grow stronger. If she ever got out of this hell, she promised, she would stop anyone who would harass someone of a lower caste.

[Azira]

The Dek stared at her as if she was seeing a mirage. Perhaps she didn’t believe that the huntress was actually offering her food. When the girl thought about it, she couldn’t understand why she was offering the drudge food either. Maybe she was having a moment of insanity but that one moment in time she felt as if it was a perfectly acceptable action. It was a moment of kindness really but it wasn’t one likely to be repeated by the young Avora. The way of the caste system was too strongly ingrained in her head and so she would not change her ways easily.

The drudge snatched the food from her hand with such ferocity that the huntress drew her hand back in fright although the young woman had already snatched her prize from the hands of the Avora. The girl ate ravenously, stuffing the food into her mouth with such haste that Azira wondered if the girl thought she might snatch it back from her out of spite. The teen stared at the pitiful creature before her, wondering why she looked ready to cry. There was no reason for her to be emotional. Azira frowned in thought as she tried to work out what she’d done to cause such a reaction.

The drudge’s words caught her by surprise. She was grateful. Just for that little morsel of food, the Dek was grateful. And she was crying. The emotion of the girl made her retreat backwards slowly, wary of the feeling that the girl was exuding. She couldn’t deal with highly emotional situation, they always made her feel awkward because she had no idea what to say or do.

”Uh... you’re welcome I guess. I’m going to go back over here,” she mumbled, moving to where she’d been sitting before to finish her meal. She kept shooting worried glances at the drudge as she continued eating, unsure if she’d done something stupid by her actions. She hoped that she hadn’t done something funny to the young woman’s head or else when they got back she might forget her place. That would be unfortunate if she had been the cause of an upset in the caste system. Or maybe, the Dek would follow her back without any complaints this time and without the air of surliness.

Finishing her food, the huntress rose to her feet and indicated to the Dek that she ought to follow her as she began to make her way back to the city through the forest. She kept shooting furtive glances behind her, half expecting the girl to have some sort of mental breakdown while she wasn’t looking. Was giving food to a drudge such a big deal? Apparently.

x

[Zhol]

GRADE AWARDED!

Azira

 

Rewards

Experience

• +1 Hunting
• +2 Intimidation
• +2 Tracking
• +2 Socialization
• +1 Stealth
• +2 Weapon: Shortbow

Lores

• Krisa: Easily Startled
• Krisa: Naturally Clumsy
• Tracking: using all your senses
• Hunting: by moonlight

Other Rewards

• None

 

Consequences

Injuries

• None (phew!)

Expenses

• Make sure you update your CS to reflect that broken arrow

 

Comments

Feedback

Fantastic work describing the hunting elements of this. I also continue to enjoy seeing how complicated and contradictory Azira can be at times: going from threatening Krisa with a knife to offering her food, and not comprehending why Krisa might be surprised by that is wonderfully confusing for everyone else... except the reader, who understands perfectly because you explain it so well.

You did spend a lot of time inside Azira's head in this thread, however. Make sure you aren't forgetting to provide the person you're writing with things to react to, especially in a thread that is by necessity light on dialogue.

Please delete/edit your grade request, and don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions about your grade!

Krisa

 

Rewards

Experience

• +2 Body Building
• +2 Determination
• +2 Socialization

Lores

• Walking with a sprained ankle
• Concealing an injury from being noticed
• Lesson learned: watch your footing
• Azira: just as bad as the other Avora
• Azira: horribly angry all the time
• Azira: sharing food

Other Rewards

• None

 

Consequences

Injuries

• Sprained Ankle - swelling should reduce after 2-3 days, particularly if ice is applied. Ankle should be kept under compression (ie. bandaged) to prevent further swelling and to restrict movement. Normal movement should return within 40-50 days, but you should be cautious engaging in strenuous physical activity for the next 60.

Expenses

• None

 

Comments

Feedback

This is my first encounter with Krisa, and I am bowled over. I love the character concept, and you write her so well! Her internal struggle to not embarrass herself in front of an Avora, and her ongoing wrestling with her thoughts, repeating those little phrases over and over to keep her focus and keep herself going - really made it all very convincing. It's a shame you've moved to Lhavit - it would have been fun to write opposite her!

I couldn't give you much in the way of skills; after all that willpower and resolve though, I've given you a few points in Determination, because that's something Krisa seems to have in droves.

Please delete/edit your grade request, and don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions about your grade!